Rector:

Relying entirely on the Three Treasures, which bestow upon us their certification, we call upon the venerable assembly to mindfully recite:

仰惟三寶咸賜印知

仰憑尊衆念

Great Assembly:

Vairocana Buddha, pure Dharma body.

Rocana Buddha, complete enjoyment body.

Śākyamuni Buddha, of trillions of transformation bodies.

Maitreya Buddha, of future birth.

All buddhas of the ten directions and three times.

Mahāyāna Sutra of the Lotus of the Wondrous Dharma.

Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva, of great sagacity.

Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, of the great vehicle.

Avalokitêśvara Bodhisattva, of great compassion.

All honored bodhisattvas, those great beings.

Great perfection of wisdom.

淸淨法身毘盧舍那佛

圓滿報身盧遮那佛

千百億化身釋迦牟尼佛

當來下生彌勒尊佛

十方三世一切諸佛

大乘妙法蓮華經

大聖文殊師利菩薩

大乘普賢菩薩

大悲觀世音菩薩

諸尊菩薩摩訶薩

摩訶般若波羅蜜

The mindful recitation 念 of various buddha names 佛名 is a common practice in Mahāyāna Buddhism. It is conceived both as an act of worship and as a means of generating merit 功德 that is subsequently dedicated in support of specific prayers. In Japan, the practice of mindfully reciting a buddhaʼs name 念佛 is most often associated with the Pure Land 淨土 schools, which teach an exclusive reliance on the saving power of Amitâbha Buddha, as expressed in the devotional recitation 'Homage to Amitâbha Buddha'  南無阿彌陀佛. Japanese Zen, however, is heir to the mainstream Chinese Buddhist monastic institutions of the Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties, in which the mindful recitation of buddha names (including but not limited to Amitâbha) was a routine practice for all monks, whether or not they were affiliated with the Zen school.

The title Ten Buddha Names is somewhat incongruous in that the text does not actually name ten buddhas. Rather, it mentions four buddhas by name, then pays homage to 'all buddhas of the ten directions and three times.' It also mentions three bodhisattvas by name, then rounds out that category, too, by hailing 'all honored bodhisattvas.' In addition, it names the Lotus Sutra and the 'great perfection of wisdom.' The latter is personified as a deity in some Mahāyāna texts. The version of the Ten Buddha Names found in Standard Observances of the Sōtō School derives from Dōgenʼs Procedure for Taking Meals 赴粥飯法. In the chapter of Dōgenʼs Treasury of the Eye of the True Dharma 正法眼藏 entitled Retreat 安居, however, he cites a version of the text that lacks the line ' Mahāyāna Sutra of the Lotus of the Wondrous Dharma.' Evidently, Dōgen 道元 intended that shorter version to be used in conjunction with recitations on '3' days and '8' days. The shorter version, which at least has the number of lines (ten) that the title leads one to expect, is the one used in Rinzai Zen monasteries. The title Ten Buddha Names is well attested in medieval Chinese monastic rules, including the Rules of Purity for Zen Monasteries 禪苑淸規, which dates from 1103, and is said to derive from the 'standards for monks and nuns' 僧尼規範 written by the Chinese monk Dao'an 道安 (312–385). The contents of verses called Ten Buddha Names exhibit considerable variation, however. In his Encyclopedia of Zen Monasticism 禪林象器箋, Mujaku Dōchū 無著道忠 (1653–1744) reviews the textual evidence and despairs of finding a reasonable explanation of the title.

The pronunciation of the Ten Buddha Names given (using the kana syllabary) in Standard Observances of the Sōtō School is noteworthy for its deviation from standard Japanese readings of Chinese Buddhist texts. It seems to have been influenced by Chinese pronunciations introduced to Japan in the seventeenth century by monks associated with the so-called Ōbaku school of Zen. That is evidence that the Ten Buddha Names, while used in Japanese Zen monasteries in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, was reintroduced from Ming China during the Edo period (1600–1868), when many of the modes of Japanese Zen monastic training that exist today were taking shape.